The M8Pe features a 4x PCIe 3.0 connection and the insanely fast NVMe protocol, promising 4 kilobyte random reads up to 270,000 Input/Output operations per second (IOPS), and 4KB write up to 150,000 IOPS. The increasingly popular M.2 form factor allows for better airflow and cooling, as well as a performance bump, though Plextor isn't spilling the beans on expected read/write speeds just yet. Plextor says the drive—its first NVMe SSD—is perfect for gamers and others who need high performance from their SSDs.